Paris was not only renowned as the City of Love, but also a place filled with rich history. May it be the Hundred Year's War, the French Revolution, or L'exposition Universelle - these events were embedded in every foundation that made the place romanticized by people worldwide.
Such aspects were the reason why Marinette and Adrien were proud to be Parisians, and the thought itself fueled their heroism, but after dealing with Twiddle Gain's antics, these French duos were starting to have some second thoughts.
Who would've thought that their summer field trip could be this educational?
Because even a cobblestone has a story and being a tangible object, the Akuma was able to use it as an advantage to create a 'wormhole' for Ladybug and Chat Noir - a ploy to witness some snippets from the past and future in the sickest way possible.
After defeating Twiddle Gain's vessel in the future and fixed a taxi stand in the present, the teenagers accidentally tripped on a scorched pedestrian lane, which led them to the Storming of Bastille. They even fought a beak-headed Plague Doctor when they entered the Police Station and a spandex-suited guy with laser beams after they left the premise. Because of these, they decided to head off to Dupain-Cheng's Boulangerie Pâtisserie after visiting Twiddle Gain and Twiddle Doom's residence, for a fear that they might witness the Nazi Occupation on the alleys.
Along the way, Ladybug and Chat Noir saw Paris in six different eras.
"Can this be considered as time-traveling?" the feline hero bemoaned as they stood in front of an apartment door. "Because this butterfly effect must stop."
"I don't know whether to compliment you or to punch you for that insensitive pun." his spotted girlfriend peeved. "I doubt we've seen the actual future because the past was obviously a farce. There's nothing in our history books that mentioned about Marie Antoinette's head jumped and chased the crowd while screaming 'Freedom!'."
Her boyfriend shuddered.
Marinette knew that both Tikki and Plagg were exhausted to maintain their transformation, but they have to be on their superhero suits to conduct the interview. Their civilian counterparts didn't have the power to intimidate the akumatized victim, and authority to perform such actions in the public.
Locks began to disengage when the spotted heroine rapped the door. It creaked, and a head poked out from the gaps, eyeing the two superheroes.
"La - Ladybug?" the man uttered with disbelief. "And Cha - Chat Noir?"
"Hello, Monsieur." the superhero greeted. "My partner and I would like to ask for your assistance about your missing brother."
He disengaged the locks completely, then ushered his guests inside. Before the two entered the premise, they asked the man first if he had any antique objects or something that got unintentionally ruined due to an Akuma. Thankfully, he didn't.
The last thing they would like to see was a humanoid version of Napoleon Bonaparte.
It was a two-room style unit with few but necessary furniture. They were led to a cozy living room with a small sofa. On its corner was long desk filled with parchment-like papers, writing materials and a whiteboard with mathematical equations. There was a kitchenette with almost-empty cupboards, and when the man opened his fridge, the compartments were unfilled with grocers.
When their host returned with refreshments, he asked them. "Are you going to arrest me?"
Ladybug shook her head. "We've come here for your help, Monsieur, and not to incriminate you for being Twiddle Doom. You're innocent. You've done nothing wrong there. You were victimized by Papillion, and he manipulated your weaknesses for his selfish ego."
"Felipe, call me Felipe, Miss Ladybug." the man corrected her, then breathed deeply. "And yes, I've been told by the social workers about it. They quoted it as CSB, I believe. But no, I'm past that blaming stage. I decided to move forward and forgive myself for the evil deeds that I've done. I also offered my apologies to those that I've hurt while I'm under the spell."
"You're amazing, Felipe. Not all people can do that." Chat Noir commented.
"Thanks, Mr. Noir." the man smiled. "I'm praying that Marcelo can also redeem himself as well."
"He will. Why don't you tell us more about your brother?"
"Marcelo - he's my twin, the youngest - is my last remaining family. When our Mamma died when we're ten, and our father five years later, Marcelo and I decided to continue our farm business." he began, then glanced at the paper piled on top of the long table. "My brother has a dream to become a physicist, aiming to work with CERN someday, so who am I to stop him?"
The superheroes remained silent and let the man continued his story.
"I don't have the brains like him, but I know that God has a plan for us. As his elder brother, I supported him. I handled the business while he continued his studies. Unfortunately, our finances weren't enough to sustain his University fees, and the mere fact that we need a new tractor and some machinery, we were left with no choice but to sacrifice something. Then here comes Mister Joseph Howards."
Chat's faux ears twitched.
Felipe fingered his beady necklace. "When he learned about our situation, he offered an assistance in exchange for using our mill as his warehouse extension. Being an ignorant fool with a desperate brother, we immediately accepted his proposal. What we didn't know was that he was using our property for his illegal acts, and when we confronted him about it, he scoffed and shoved us a signed document about him owning our property. A property he never bought by a single dime. A property that was passed to us by generations. He conned us."
"Mr. Howards has been taken into custody last night." Ladybug informed him. "Rest assured that justice will be served properly, and at the end of the day, he'll going to pay for it behind bars."
"The news hasn't reached here yet, probably delayed due to this Akuma business." he confided. "I apologize on behalf of my brother, for the damages he caused in this city. He's not a lost cause, is he?"
"That's why we're here, Felipe. We're going to save Marcelo. He currently called himself as Twiddle Gain. He was trying to free himself from Papillion's reins, but being an Akuma, he couldn't do it without my Miraculous Cleanse. Because of that, he couldn't control his power, which resulted in some random property alterations. Fortunately, he hasn't hurt any civilians yet, but his damages created some time-warps only Miraculous holders could access. Your brother is a brave and strong man, and he was our first rogue Akuma."
"How can I help?" the man asked again.
"Tell us the places where Marcelo often stayed during his downtime. Locations where he felt safe and secure." Chat responded. "He must've witnessed how you reverted from being Twiddle Doom, which triggered him to control his urges and reject Papillion's taunts to attack us. The destruction he incurred in Paris was his SOS to us Miraculous wielders, but we're having some difficulty cracking his whereabouts."
"My brother is a school-and-house sort of person, Mr. Noir. He rarely joins social events due to our monetary problems. He often stays in libraries but..." the man scratched his stubble cheek as if he was trying to recall something. "Church. We came from a pious family. If one of us were in a bind, we always go there. Sometimes we enter the confessional."
"What church specifically?"
"Sacré-Cœur, but most of the time Notre-Dame."
"He must be claiming sanctuary."
Ladybug wanted to say something but stopped herself. She'd rather discuss it with her partner in private
"Thank you for your help, Felipe." the spotted heroine said as she stood up, followed by Chat Noir.
"It's my pleasure, Miss Ladybug. Though I didn't help you that much, really."
"You've provided us an information way better than other people. We really appreciate your cooperation."
"Anytime for our superheroes." the man answered, and when he opened the door for them, he added. "You might be an embodiment of Luck, and saying 'Good Luck' sounds appropriate, but as a religious person, I'd rather bid you 'God Bless.'
.
.
.
.
Ladybug and Chat Noir were able to exit the apartment safely without encountering Twiddle Gain's traps, so they decided to drop their transformation.
"It must be difficult for those akumatized victims to cope up with the aftermaths," Marinette muttered while standing under the awning. "Alya might've blogged her experiences as Lady Wifi, but she skipped some details like disorientation and nightmares. It was horrible for me, but she managed to recover herself in less than three days."
"Nino often mentioned some things he remembered as the Bubbler, and I swear soap bubbles became his traditional gag gifts during birthdays."
The thought made her chuckled. "I'm glad that our best friends are ridiculously true fighters."
"Both are peas in a pod." Adrien looked at the clear skies. "Actually, most of our friends are. 98% of the class were akumatized, and all of them were chill about it. Even Chloe."
"Felipe was exceptional. How I wish I had a sibling like him." she mused as they left the building. "Being a single kid, I often got jealous of those kids accompanied by their brothers or their sisters. Despite hearing Alya's constant complaints about her 'little devils', I still want to have a bigger family."
"Me too. That's why I want to have more than one kid once I got my own family."
"Mine's three."
She didn't mean to say it audibly.
His brows shot up, followed by a wolfish grin especially when he saw her red cheeks enough to rival her suit. "Oh? Then that can be arranged."
"Shut up, you stupid cat." she slapped his arm. "You're not supposed to hear that!"
"Why not? I don't see any problem with Family Planning. We can work on the age gaps. Can't let our Junior be lonely all the time."
"As if I'm going to name my child Junior!"
"Does that mean you have names for our children?" the blond wiggled his brows. "Pray do tell me."
"No." she miffed, then glowered at his lopsided grin. "Wipe that smug off your face, or I'm going to use a doormat here to remove it."
"That's claw-ful, My Lady! You wouldn't want to have my mini-me's be that ugly it's not kitten anymore."
She wasn't supposed to laugh, but damn him his horrible pun broke her a fit of a laugh, much to her boyfriend's disgruntlement.
The two were busy with their banters they barely realized that they've reached the Gottlieb Street miraculously without any untoward incidents.
Marinette used the spare key hidden beneath their potted plants since her own duplicate was left among her belongings. Before she could enter it through the keyhole, a hand stopped her.
"We need to make sure that there are no 'wormholes' inside." Adrien proposed. "What if we'll be greeted by a droideka, or maybe Charles VI's ghost?"
"Minou." she deadpanned. "My house is not a castle in the past, a mental institute, or anything connected to cemeteries. And if we'll going to be transported to an alien spaceship, then brace yourself for the worse."
He whimpered when the raven-haired girl turned the knobs, and when she swung the bakery door open, nothing happened.
The teenagers exasperatedly sighed with relief.
"The coast is clear." he whooped.
His declaration earned him a pinch.
Eyeing her companion's belongings, she told him "Why don't you bring your bag upstairs while I prepare for Tikki's cookies? I have a Paris map on my desk, and some markers that we can use to plot our trail."
"Aye, aye." he gave a two-finger salute then marched towards her room.
Tikki flew out from her purse when her charger headed straight to the pantry. After she reheated some cookie batches in the oven, she nuzzled the girl's cheek.
"Marinette?" the red kwami asked. "Did you forget something?"
She clapped her hands to remove the dustings. "Hmm...I don't think so. Why?"
"Adrien is inside your room."
"So? He's going to bring the map here anyways."
Tikki pursed her smirk. "Who's inside your room again?"
"Adrien?" her charger answered nonchalantly. "Who else?"
"And what's inside your room?"
"As I've said, the map is in..." Marinette paused when a realization dawned her. "Oh shit!"